Turkey Stock

We talked about making chicken stock before, and turkey stock is really no different.  It's just made with turkey...  After my Mom put together an amazing Thanksgiving dinner with a delicious turkey, I made some stock with the carcass.  My Dad and his friends were pretty interested in what I was doing as you can see.

For a delicious, flavor packed turkey stock, you will need:

1 turkey carcass

2 leeks

2 onions

5 carrots

5 celery stalks

2 heads of garlic

2 bay leaves

1 bunch of parsley

salt and pepper

The ingredients might vary based on the size of the bird that you are using.  Feel free to reduce if needed, but I don't see it getting any bigger.  We had a huge bird to feed all 19 people at dinner.

To get started, turn the oven to 450 and roast the carcass and skin for about 30 minutes until roasted.  Sorry, we don't have many pictures.

Roughly chop the leeks, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.  Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large stock pot and turn on medium high heat.  Then add the vegetables and saute for 8 minutes or so until softened and incorporated.  

Next, add the turkey that just finished roasting.  Then place the roasting pan on the stove over high heat.  Add about a 1/2 cup to a cup of wine (whatever you have) to deglaze the pan.  Then add the flavor packed deglazed drippings to the pot.

Mix the ingredients well, and then cover everything with water.  You'll want to make sure to cover well so that the water is about an inch above the ingredients.  Then season with salt and pepper.  If you have whole peppercorns on hand they're great to add to stocks.  

Next, add the bay leaf and the parsley. 

Bring everything to a boil and let simmer for a few hours.

After a while the sauce will reduce and the flavors will all develop and incorporate.  I think that 3 hours is usually good, but it's not a perfect science.  While the stock simmers, scoop off any foam that develops from time to time.  

The big turkey ended up making a lot of stock.  It's always good to have on hand though.  You can substitute turkey stock for any recipe that calls for chicken stock.  Delicious, super easy, and homemade from scratch.